about the book
Even as a tiny baby, Firefly escapes her web hammock and milkweed blanket and flings herself out of the hollow tree that is home to the whole clan. Unable to fly yet, she falls, marveling at the glorious stars above, before Elder swoops in and saves her. Most of the others think Firefly is crazy. Not Elder; he promises to teach her to fly and blink when the time is right.
And she does learn, far better than the other young fireflies. They are too afraid of breaking the rules: 1) Don’t fly beyond the clearing; 2) Don’t fly higher than the first big branch of the white pine; and 3) Don’t fly in the rain.
Firefly ignores the rules. More than anything, she wants to fly to the moon like the human astronauts. She also ignores the big rule about avoiding the humans. Firefly finds the little Giant, Peter, fascinating, and she often flies beyond the clearing to spy on him. He always played with another; now he is always alone.
Down below, Cricket serenades with his family and friends. While others sing chirping songs about marsh grass and dandelions, Cricket sings about baseball, a game he saw the little Giant playing. More than anything, Cricket wants to be like Yogi Berra. Cricket saw his hero’s trading card at the Museum of Giant Artifacts. It wasn’t nearly as scary as the bug-catcher jar!
As Cricket and Firefly’s lives intertwine, they ignore the warning tales and cautious rules. Dreaming of big daring adventures, they set out on their own. Cricket and Firefly find refuge with a kindly old Vole, the last of his river-dwelling kind, who dreams of sailing downriver to rejoin his family and friends lost in a flood. Sadly, Vole doesn’t have the courage to follow his dreams. He strives to guide Firefly and Cricket, but the two ignore his warnings too, especially about making contact with the little Giant!
With great courage, the three help the grieving Peter cope with the loss of his friend, and discover so much about death, prejudice, conforming to society, friendship, overcoming fears, and the value of chasing one’s dreams.
about the author
“Have laptop, will write” is Alison McGhee’s motto. You can find her tapping away in hotel lobbies, on airplanes, in coffee shops, and at her kitchen table. You name it, she’ll write anywhere! What does she write—everything! Adult novels, books for older students, picture books, personal haikus, anything that is a challenge! She really likes challenges. The scarier, the better! That is why she keeps trying new genres.
The funny thing is she procrastinates every single morning. She frets and gets so mad at herself that sometimes she just has to scream “SIT DOWN AND WRITE!!!” If she does it in public place, please just pretend it never happened!
Alison grew up in the rural north and she was a great reader from a very early age. She wanted to be an actor, a ballerina, a singer, and finally at the age of six, a writer. That was when she first starting putting her stories down on paper.
After graduating from Middlebury College, it took six years before her first book was published. She started writing for children by accident. She kept a journal for each of her children and her sister noted that there were lots of story ideas in those pages. Alison gave herself the challenge of turning one of the entries into a book! The scary challenge paid off and her first attempt at publishing, Countdown to Kindergarten, won the 2003 Minnesota Book Award!
Many of this New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize nominee’s books are set in Minnesota. When not writing, you can find her teaching classes in creative writing at the Metropolitan State University in St. Paul. She lives with her three children in Minneapolis.
Sources:
Author website
Author spotlight: Pippin Properties
Author interview: Star Tribune
Author interview: HenryHerz
Author interview: BookPage
Book Trailer: Firefly Hollow
Also by Alison McGhee:
Pablo and Birdy. Caitlyn Dlouhy. August 2017.
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